Lamela’s deadlock breaker ended an hour of frustration for Spurs, who were having another tough night trying to break down stubborn ­opposition.

Before Lamela’s landmark strike, the omission of Hugo Lloris was the biggest talking point.

The French keeper had been given the all clear to face Sheriff just four days after being knocked out against Everton. But Villas-Boas took no risks and handed Brad Friedel his record-breaking start – at 42 he’s the oldest player to appear in the Europa League or UEFA Cup.

£30m man Erik Lamela opened his Sours account [AP]

After Lloris was out cold, most of the match was enough to put you to sleep. There was so little action that Spurs fans started chanting, “Let’s pretend we’ve scored a goal” to entertain themselves.

But they didn’t have to pretend on the hour when Lamela lashed in his first goal since his move from Roma after a mistake from Djibril Paye.

Defoe put them in the clear before Isa pounced on a rebound off Friedel to make for a tense finish.